ApexerER

So, I received my package from Double D mods and excitedly started my install. I soldered and heatshrinked every connection so I would never have any issues. Double checked my wiring and installed the unit. I was extremely disappointed with the sound. I spoke to Dennis and he ran through the wiring with me and all is correct. He asked if my battery was low and I told him I was actually running on a jump box because my battery was shot and he figured this was why. Purchased a new AGM Platinum Battery. Started car and the sound was a little better but not significant. Spoke to Dennis again who assured me it should not sound like that. He said he has never installed an aftermarket radio that didn't sound better than the factory no matter the brand. He tried helping me but he is 1000 miles away and its not like he can run over and look at it. I am by no means an audiophile. I thought the stock Bose was decent. This is pretty bad, highs are ear piercing instead of crisp and the base is muddy with no punch. I ran out last night and purchased a set of Infinity 3 1/2 speakers for the doors and installed them and feel like it made no difference. I have triple checked my wiring and messed with every setting in the radio. I am about ready to rip all the factory stuff out and replace it while adding a subwoofer even though it was never in my mind to do this at the beginning. What am I missing?

SCCA VETTE

I have replaced the stock units in every corvette I have owned with the last 3 being 03 Z06, 09 Z06, 06 Base and all 3 sounded amazing compared to the bose.

A few things I learned
1. Replace ALL speakers with decent (no need to spend crazy money) speakers.
2. Put at least a 10" sub woofer in the car. They do sell special boxes that go in the back of the car but they are pricey.
3. Spend time going through all the settings on the new head unit. The more I played with them the better they sound.

I just finished putting a new system in the 2006 last weekend and all in I was around $650 and it sounds amazing. If you were close I would help you out.

TheProsecutor

To get improved sound, you will need more than a new source unit.
It is like getting a new dress shirt, but wearing an old ragged suit.
Sound quality is proportional to the weakest link of the system.

A proper sound system would include:
1. Head Unit - most people call it a stereo - stereo is a type of sound like mono.
2. RCA cables - notice I did not say speaker level outputs.
3. Amplifier - 4 to 6 channels would be preferable.
4. Ground and power wire - 4 or 0 gauge.
5. Speaker wire - 12 or 14 gauge.
6. Component set - 6.5" and a tweeter with crossover.
7. Subwoofer - 10" with 2 ohm or 4 ohm voice coil / coils.
8. Subwoofer enclosure - optimized for the subwoofer.

I think you only completed step 1, you have 7 or more to go.

Other things to consider:
9. Sound dampening
10. Time alignment
11. Extra Battery
12. Capacitor
13. Active crossover
14. Reference soundtracks.

Jimnc

I agree with your post except the OP's sound quality deteriorated with the new HU. At worst the sound quality should be at least as good if the HU was properly installed. I would return the HU and ask Dennis to verify that it is working properly.

TheProsecutor

The stock Bose is not decent, it is pretty bad, the bass would be muddy from factory with no punch, especially after 10+ years. The highs can be adjusted with the eq.

I run a Kenwood deck with an amplifier, with an RTA, I tuned the tweeters -6db from 4khz to 20khz.

gpruitt54

I just completed a similar in installation on my C5.

Did you install an after market amp? If not, did you buy a Bose module to make the head unit work with the Bose head factory amp? The modules have gain controls that must be turned all the way to the right. If you do not turn the gains up, the sound from the head unit will be extremely poor.

ZeekDuff

I installed a Kenwood DNX-9990 head unit with Dennis' bezel using stock Bose speakers, just needed some bottom boost, so I temporarily put in an eight inch Bazooka powered sub in the center tub of the trunk, put the lid back on & latched it. It sounds great, could use a little more ultra-high end, but in my ragtop, I don't really miss it until sitting still with the engine off. Hardly worth the bother. I'm an old professional musician, so I know what it should sound like, and it's just fine, thank you. It does have a wired remote for the sub, but leaving it wide open is doing the trick. The whole package was definitely worth it. I'll finish up by making a plate to bolt to the stock CD changer's old mounting bolts to strap the sub in permanently. Try adding a powered sub-woofer before you start swapping speakers, you'll need one regardless of any other full-range range speaker, 'cause they're just gonna be too small to deliver good bass. Edit: The 10" Bazooka won't fit with the tub lid on, I tried it first.

What I'm looking for now is a way to use the steering wheel control capability of the head unit to run a small box or panel of controls like volume & tuning, if nothing else. Phone buttons would be nice, too. The buttons of the radio/Nav are just too tiny to get at safely while driving. We'll see what I come up with. Crutchfield sells a rig with just buttons that straps to a steering wheel, but I'd also like to have ***** for volume & tuning, in addition to those buttons. Might be a way to add that to their unit or in a different location. There's plenty of room on the console with nothing underneath to interfere with wires. If anyone knows of a mfr that already does this entire adaptation for adding buttons & ***** to a digital head unit without using actual steering wheel controls, I'd appreciate the tip, as well. Good luck, OP...

Later same day update; I found a device on eBay that uses the infrared remote pickup to send the steering wheel button commands to the head unit. Uses a replaceable battery and can either be mounted on the wheel with an included strap mechanism, or looks like you could stick somewhere else. It's only $10.49 shipped w/1 yr warranty via eBay, so I ordered one. If nothing else, if I don't like it as is, I can gut it & put the parts in a small box or mount them in the console top. The buttons are way larger than what's on the Kenwood & makes muting, vol up/down & phone answer/hangup obvious.

Best regards,
...z

GCG

Sounds interesting. Could you please post a link?
Thanks!

ZeekDuff

Here y'go... http://www.ebay.com/itm/282247105401

Ugly little piece of tripe, huh? That pink plastic will get painted if I leave it in it's original case.

There are others that need to be connected to the head unit's steering wheel harness to "read" the commands (you connect a receiver to the harness that picks up FM from the wireless controller), they're about $35, but I really don't want to pull the unit to get at the harness connection in the back. The guy I had do the work left it off, because he didn't think I needed it. BS, I also gave him AV wires to connect & USB, he left it all off, so someday, I might need to pull it down anyway. I had plans to put access to all that in the console in back of the shifter. If you take that cover off, you can see plenty of room underneath to install connectors, run wires, etc.

PS: there are also others that look like the one I got, but be careful, this one "looks" the same with no color BS, BUT it doesn't appear to have phone buttons.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-St...3D282247105401

Best regards,
...z

GCG

Thanks for the info

Just something I noticed. Both have pink translucent portions in their cases to allow the infrared to pass through. If you paint it, you should only do the front part, like the second device you linked

ZeekDuff

Aha, I didn't really look closely at that 2nd one, just looked for button functions, & I want/need phone ans/hangup for sure. Got a notice it shipped today from New Jersey, so it should be here in CO by midweek at the latest. Once I get my hands on it & make sure the Kenwood sees & likes it, I can figure out how to mount it & how it looks best without killing it's ability to talk, indeed. Infrared is weird, I have a couple of remotes I thought must've been using UHF to go through a blanket, but weren't. I also have infrared "extenders" for upstairs TVs to tune a satellite box from 2 other rooms, but they need 110V power, BUT they also use wall-warts, so they might work on 12V. No clue how/where I'd put the pyramid rcvr/transmitter, again it's too large to use in it's own enclosure. I'll figure it all out by this time next week. The thingy might not work at all, too. Thanks for the tip, regardless.

Best regards,
...z

ApexerER

Ok...so my radio is now working and sounding like it should. I have spoken to Dennis probably a dozen times (That guy has patience). So today while talking to him I ask if I can send him pics of my wiring etc so we can hopefully figure this out and he gives me his PERSONAL cell number so I can text him pics. ( idk anyone that would give their personal number out like that) I rip the radio out and take pics of the harness so I can send them to Dennis. I hook the radio back up and it sounds great. I didn't change anything! I have had this radio out at least 15 times. Called Dennis and told him...i am very happy it is working but still wonder what the heck. Thumbs up for Dennis and DD mods. Dennis assured me if I have any more issues he will help me out...Thanks for all the replies

TorchRedFred

Sounds like there is a short somewhere. Possibly a bad harness or bad wiring connection. Hopefully the problem doesn't reappear down the road. When I was doing my install on my C6, I connected the harness and put the head unit on and it sounded ok, not great. As I was tucking all the wires in to actually install the head unit, all of a sudden everything kicked in and sounded much better. Pulled everything out and the sound went bad again. I discovered I had a bad wiring harness that only worked correctly when I applied pressure to the plug. Luckily I discovered all this before finishing my install. I replaced the wiring harness with another new one and everything worked great with no more problems. Good luck.

GCG

Probably something similar is happening here. I'm glad everything is fine and this is proof that when everything is fine what the OP did is an upgrade, not a downgrade.

If problem reappears, you now have a better idea of where to look to fix it

ZeekDuff

Okay, the remote came & there are no instructions, so I'm left to wonder until I get a chance to go mess with it. I'm finishing up taxes, so I don't want to get distracted until I'm done, maybe another day to check it all over, thinking I'll finish up in an hour or so more. I should start a new thread on this piece, anyway. I'll do that once I know if it works or not & how well if it does. It's not as ugly in person, that translucent part is a lot darker than it appears in the pix. It's possible to just go with it as intended without mods. We'll see & I'll let the forum know, give a me a couple of days at least. I'll try to get a decent pict of it, too. Thanks!

Best regards,
...z

GCG

^Looking forward to see how it goes

gpruitt54

Post a photo of the IR control?